Ignorance Is Bliss

If someone from the far future, lets say 4013, was to ask their everyday owned super computer, "Computer what was the United States built off of?", I would bet any money that that highly intelligent super computer would respond with "Immigration" as its number one answer; and if not... its not that super. I believe one of the biggest problems with our country is the fact that so many Americans are ignorant on immigration and the events that lead to so many people wanting to come to the U.S. for the same thing so many ancestors did: to earn money and make a better living for their family. When discussing immigration people should first understand that everyone in the U.S. are immigrant except this of original Indigenous decent.

 

   When Europeans first made their "Discovery" of the Americas it was already inhabited by indigenous tribes who had been here years before. Tribes such as the Aztecs and Incas, who were far more advanced than people may know, were the ones who had their land stolen and their villages ravaged. For these tribes, in my eyes, they are the only ones who have the right to call any part of the Americas "my land." One thing that bugs me most is to hear an every day American citizen say that an immigrant of Hispanic decent, or any matter of fact, should go back to their country, learn the language,  or that they don't belong here. Its wrong to deny someone the same life or opportunities that we have in this country to someone else; especially when our country, is actually one of the driving forces bringing them here, one policy being NAFTA.

 

  

   NAFTA, North American Free Trade Agreement, has been a driving force for immigration in the U.S. since it was first brought about as a trade policy. NAFTA alone has allowed big business company such as "Smithfield" to totally control product production and importing for pork in Veracruz, Mexico. According to an article from The Nation...

 

"According to Alejandro Ramírez, general director of the Confederation of Mexican Pork Producers, Mexico imported 30,000 tons of pork in 1995, the year after NAFTA took effect. By 2010 pork imports, almost all from the United States, had grown more than twenty-five times, to 811,000 tons."

 

Numbers like this caused two main things to happen in Mexico. Local pork farmers lost their farms leading them into poverty, and eventually submitting to the low wage working call of their destroyer. Now we have the situation a lot of immigrants are in as they leave their country, horrible working condition and are in need of a source of money. Eventually companies such as Smithfield, and more I'm, sure decided to promote temporary visas to Hispanic who would come and work for very low wages, a substantial decrease in what they would make owning their own local farms, and also work in horrible working conditions. This to me is abuse, exploitation, and as close to slavery as possible; but when you have no other choice coming to the U.S. to make money and be able to support your family sounds as good as it will get. Right? Yes, until you have the country, employer, and the citizens who live their all supporting deportation of these people, and recycling them because they know that there are more.

 

 



   Factors are what drive immigration to our country, which many may or may not agree with, but we cannot forget that our country is built of immigration; a country of diverse hard working people who want to achieve a common goal. To deny anyone that opportunity in my eyes is wrong. I believe that if many U.S. Americans were to know the story and active factors behind immigrants coming to our countries or would change a lot of opinions of immigration and our government; but until we are all educated on the topic ignorance continues to be bliss.

 

Sources:

 

http://www.thenation.com/article/165438/how-us-policies-fueled-mexicos-great-migration#

immigration

Immigration

Immigration reform in the United States was thought to be a lost topic until post government shut down.  Both political parties feel they have shed a bad light on themselves and now republicans have shifted toward providing a route to citizenship for undocumented citizens, in an effort to gain new voters and rebuild their image.  Democrats are now willing to work with Republicans because they don’t want to be seen as the bad parent that said no.  To Latin Americans or shall we say,” Mexicano’s, Cubano’s Puerto Rican’s” and the latter this is great news but mostly for Mexican undocumented immigrants.   There are an estimated over 11 million undocumented   citizens in the United States, a good portion from Latin American countries.  11 million is no small number and most feel citizenship is a right. There are opposing sides to reform: those who feel Sympathy for these the used, abuse and underappreciated immigrants and those who feel these undocumented immigrants brought it on themselves by breaking the law.  There is another side who just feel it would be detrimental to the economy.  So, the question is what should we do?

The first question is, are you sympathetic?  The majority of Western America originally belonged to Mexico before it was acquired by the U.S after the Mexican American war, through spoils of war.  That western territory was opened to U.S settlement and Mexicans were slowly kicked off their own land in places such as Arizona, New Mexico and California.  The boarder was left unpatrolled for decades, which allowed immigration to freely pass to and from, which was fine, but when the U.S began patrolling the boarder and implementing immigration laws, families became divided.  Mexico has been in an economic struggle and government disarray since its birth and America has taken advantage of that and at times has limited the countries growth.  America toyed with Mexican immigrants bringing them into the country for cheap labor, then when the job is done deporting them.  America has used various immigrants to build the country into the power that it is today, a lot of those immigrants still reside in the United States today as undocumented immigrants, evading deportation.  Those undocumented people feel they deserve citizenship within the U.S.

On the other foot due mostly to stereotyping, It is believed that most of these Latin American immigrants are lazy, uneducated, drug dealers, catholic praising, temper flaring people and they have large families holding all of these traits too.  It’s thought that undocumented immigrants came here illegally and broke the law, therefore they should not be given citizenship and any hard ship they’ve had is their own doing and that includes hardship received from deportation. The overall mind set is that why should we pass immigration reform allowing undocumented people citizenship when this is what the majority bring.  Not only that but those new citizens would also be competing for jobs which is one thing this country is lacking in its current state.

My personal feelings hold sympathy for Latin Americans; awarding citizenship for those people who helped build our country would make me feel all warm inside.   But I’m impartial to just awarding an approximated 11 million people citizenship because I am logical, I’m American and I believe the majority of information put out defending opposing sides is biased and blown out of proportion.  Yes, it’s probable that the majority of drugs come Mexico, if you don’t count the drugs that we make right here in the United States.  Plus, if 11 million people were bringing drugs over the boarder you would think people could get a dime at a decent price (I’m just being funny here).  I do believe that immigrants did build this country from the ground up because everyone here is technically an immigrant.  The exception is Native Americans who owned it before the U.S and before Mexico so I feel no sympathy for who’s land it used to be in terms of immigration, all though we are all complete assholes.  Yet, for building this country I do think some type of reform should be passed, but not for everybody.  Anybody can tell me that most of the undocumented individuals crossing the border a very well educated and I’d ask where’d you get your information from?  I’m not saying immigrants are uneducated but a hundred people you know in one area do not represent 11 million people spread throughout the United States.  My personal opinion, through traveling to 2^nd and 3^rd world countries, and Living with Hispanic and Asian families in Texas and California for a few weeks at a time, is that most immigrants have some level of education.  Most immigrants move to a location containing large populations of people speaking their native tongue and become secluded from the majority of society.  Those who become secluded have a pattern were the grandparents and parents speak little to no English the kids are bilingual and their kids only speak English.  That’s not everybody but this is not what I like to see.  If you are going to become an American citizen you should make an effort to become one an adopt customs and at least the language.  Things like this divide a nation making factions and take away from national pride.  I mean in some areas of cities I’ve had to travel with buddies affiliated with gangs to avoid getting shanked, but then I’m allowed to meet some of these guys and their cool as hell even though half of the conversations need to be translated.  Back to the point, we should filter current undocumented immigrants and those who are already successfully sustaining themselves, maintaining work and making an effort to learn American customs grant them citizenship.  Current immigration laws should be maintained within the process accepting certain skill sets and successful immigrants.  Those not contributing to society should be given a grace period to fix the issue and then face deportment if it goes unchecked.  A limited number should be allowed citizenship, a number in the millions but nowhere near 11 million; mainly because if they are direct family of one immigrant that receives citizenship, odds are they will receive citizenship too and it will not count towards the cutoff number.  If they don’t make the cutoff number, it most likely means they are too far out of touch with society.  I already have issues with Americans being out of the loop and being uninformed, why should I humor more people who have no idea what’s going on.  I still don’t believe it will help the economy however, because these formerly undocumented immigrants will be able to openly compete for jobs at a higher level than what they were doing before.  This is not a thought of holding someone down, this is logical thought, higher level jobs require at least a visa and a background check.  Of those gaining citizenship sign an affidavit and offer to support somebody, go get married have a baby there’s loop wholes to the system.  Just be glad nobodies asking for all of those unpaid taxes, cause taxes suck, that would literally be billions of dollars.

 

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-immigration-obama-20131025,0,6755968.story#axzz2ilTKlctn

http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/how-united-states-immigration-system-works-fact-sheet

The journey, hardships, and strives

   

Many generations of Latino groups has experienced immigration In the U.S. the three groups are Mexicanos, Puertorriqunos, and Cubans. The cause Latinos migrating to the U.S. are because of the markets. Now there are big transformation in Latin countries from neoliberalism and NAFTA. The U.S moved most Latin’s to better the economy.  The problems that came along with immigration is no justice .for example when immigrants are brought to the United States most would say it isn't voluntary and it’s not; some Latinos are put into factories to work that give low basic such as meat cutters.  In the article “Immigrants are exploited in America's slaughterhouses” they talk about the factories and the positions of immigrants and how they use the cheapest labor.  This is wrong doing to the immigrants American slaughter houses and only has immigrants that are from other countries work in a place that can be a danger to them. This was a danger to people working in the factory because the type of work they had to perform. Many immigrants was foreign so the U.S. didn’t find it wrong for them to be working in these slaughter houses.

 Another problem that came along with immigration is the view of the many stereotypes that the U.S. looked down at Latinos in America was the hardships that the Mexicans had. During the time of the Mexican revolution Mexicans was moved and immigrated to the U.S. for some moving was good economically for others it was hard getting back to their families. Many Mexicans where treated unfairly while other groups Puertorriquerios and Cubans where treated the opposite. Many Mexicans  had many problems of not being undocumented they had to go through the most to they were being blamed for the down falls of the U.S. but the ones putting in a lot of work for the economic sake. Than for the Cubans who has extreme differences when it comes to immigration considered as refuge because of the outbreak of war and many came to the United States after the most industrialization that came from Cuban were the factories for tobacco; also Puerto Ricans came to the U.S. and established companies. These companies were made to make the economy issues better later on in the 1900's.

The good impact of immigrants from Latino countries coming to U.S. are the ability to work even though they were undocumented they maintained jobs. this was good because for the lower and middle class it was an advantage. Many Latin’s that are American today had many companies, businesses of there on this was a good thing because they were showing Americans something new and it was a way to better the economy more laws were being established.  Some immigrants made a difference by the organizations for the Latinos have made a better living while they lived in the U.S. being immigrants became a more  of an influence to American countries the more hardships  brought more accomplishments.

The Cold Reality about Illegal Immigration to the United States of America

Heriberto Vargas Hernandez

The topic of how to prevent illegal immigration to the United States of America has been a very controversial issue in the U.S. since I can remember, and I have been alive for two decades.  Most of the illegal immigrants in this country are from Mexico, about 59 percent of the total undocumented people in the U.S. are Mexicans [1]. There are illegal immigrants from other countries, but the vast majorities belong to Latin American Countries.  There are many reasons that force people from other countries to come to the United States of America illegally, and some of these include bad economies and corruption in their native countries.  In Latin American countries, especially in Mexico, if people do not hold at least a middle class status, then there will be no real chance of economic and social advancement because the government will not allow them to do so with the implementation of fraudulent laws and regulations.  The majority of illegal immigrants from Mexico did not choose to come to the USA illegally, they were forced to, and this seems to be something that most “Americans” have ignored for their own benefit or failed to understand.

 

Once people from Mexico make the difficult decision to risk their lives in hopes for a better future and cross the US-Mexico border illegally they are faced with many harsh realities here in the U.S.  It is estimated that about 11.9 million people are living in the United States as illegal immigrants, and during the past decade it was estimated that an average of 500,000 people were entering the U.S. illegally per year [2].  Out of all the illegal immigrants, about two thirds enter the U.S. by the US-Mexico border, and the remaining 30 to 40 percent enter on some type of temporary visa and once these become expired they stay here [2].The harshest reality that illegals have to deal with is discrimination which groups Mexicans into several stereotypes due to the fact that there are labeled as “illegal immigrants.” The two most damaging stereotypes that “Americans” have given to Mexican illegal immigrants include being lazy and uneducated.

 

 Illegal immigrants in the U.S. go through very difficult times to find jobs, so they have to take jobs that will often exploit them for cheap labor.  Of course, several U.S. industries benefit greatly from the fact that all of these illegal immigrants have to take low-skilled level jobs.  These low-skilled and low-paying jobs are mainly in the restaurant, hospital, construction, landscaping, agribusiness, and meat-packaging industries [3].  I, myself, having done an internship for a large meat-packaging company, which name I cannot mention, in the U.S. saw some of the working conditions and treatment which illegal immigrants have to endure. In addition, many here in the U.S. often say that illegal immigrants here are taking jobs away from “Americans,” but the reality is that the types of jobs that illegal immigrants do are those jobs that “Americans” are not willing to do for the same dollar amount that is paid to illegals[4].  In addition, some say that illegal immigrants do not contribute greatly to the U.S. economy because they do not pay taxes, but this is just another excuse used by “Americans,” which include the elite and powerful politicians, to justify the fact that they do not want to legalize illegal immigrants by passing an immigration reform.   The following image depicts Hispanic/Latino immigrants asking for an immigration reform.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“We are not Illegal Aliens, We are Human Beings”

 

 

 

 

                Many illegal immigrants and “Dreamers” here in the U.S. have been pushing to have an immigration reform passed here in the U.S.  And, it has been a very controversial topic during this Barack Obama administration, because the immigration reform has been proposed but it has not gone anywhere.  Instead, some of the U.S. representatives have focused their attention on deciding whether to attack the country of Syria, and on trying to prevent a government shutdown, which already happened [1].  In my personal opinion, I believe that the U.S. will keep delaying the immigration reform because the U.S. government does not want to pass it, and it will not pass it at least not in my lifetime.  In the larger scheme of “politics” the U.S. benefits more from having illegal immigrants in the country then from not having any at all, and let’s face it the economy of this country would collapsed without the contributions of illegal immigrants, just try to really imagine a day without an illegal immigrant and relatives of illegal immigrants, whether legal or illegal, here in the U.S.  It would be a thousand times worse than what was depicted in the movie “A day without a Mexican” directed by Sergio Arau.

 

Reference Links:

1.      http://www.policymic.com/articles/62757/illegal-immigration-debate-continues-to-discredit-hispanics

2.      http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/hanson-dec09.pdf

3.      http://www.nationalreview.com/article/347534/illegal-immigration-who-benefits

4.      http://www.infowars.com/18-facts-prove-illegal-immigration-is-absolute-nightmare-for-u-s-economy/

Used And Abused

Francarlo Resto

Used and Abused

Immigration is seen as one of the biggest issues in the United States currently in the media. The media has painted a negative image of immigrants, specifically Mexicans. With the help of stereotypes such as laziness, big families, and job stealers, Mexicans have suffered from discrimination for many years now because of how they are viewed in society. But ultimately it is the United States fault for this problem.

            Over time I’ve noticed a continuous cycle with immigration from countries in Latin America. The United States was suffering from lack of employment and needed some type of help in agriculture and eventually industrialization. Then once they feel as if they don’t need them, they just replace them with more immigrants. But the need for help after WWI led NAFTA to bring immigrants over to the U.S. because of the crucial need for cheap labor. They saw this cheap labor as an opportunity for a huge increase in profits within the states. The desire for a life outside of poverty, Hispanics sought out the American dream by coming into the states and working at these different farms and industries. They slowly started to bring Mexicans into the country with the Bracero program, which promised jobs and guaranteed minimum wage, which certainly didn’t seem to be true. And once things started to go down hill, they just get rid of the old ones and found fresh new immigrants to replace the old ones. Immigrants started to face harsh treatment with unfair pay and they demanded that they gain those rights and benefits. These benefits couldn’t be obtained because of the strategic plan of the United States to have contractors hire them so that they don’t gain the company’s benefits. This continuous cycle seems to be never-ending with immigration and the United States.

          

  In the work force today, there are many factories and companies that are taking advantage of the immigrants who are just trying to earn enough money to support their family. The companies are having many immigrants who are working on fake papers, which is what’s causing all the commotion within the United States. Since we recently were affected by high rates of unemployment, many citizens knew of all the job opportunities that were being taken away by immigrants who weren’t United States citizens.  But Immigrants hold such a strong presence within the U.S which means that deporting these undocumented immigrants would take way too long and potentially cost a lot of money. According to the Center for American Progress sees that having a reform for the documentation of all illegal immigrants would benefit the United States with a 1.5 trillion dollar increase in the economy. They also claimed that the deportation of all illegal immigrants would lead to a 2.6 trillion dollar loss in GDP over a period of ten years. Seeing as this is true, immigrants are really needed in the U.S and deporting them would be a lost for the United States as well as the immigrants.

           

Sources:

http://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/illegal-immigration-from-mexico.html

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/report/2012/07/06/11888/the-facts-on-immigration-today/

The American Dream

       

The American Dream

            Immigrants come to the United States to find better opportunities and maybe even accomplished their own American dream. They came here because they will hear or see stories of how people had prosper just by coming to the United States. It seemed like almost everyone owned a house, had a couple of nice vehicles and could provide a comfortable lifestyle for their family members. But as soon as immigrants come here they realized that over here is totally different than how they pictured it. Over here you don’t have the same opportunities if you are an immigrant as if you were born in the United States.                                                     One story that I found is the one of Sergio Garcia that resides in California and wants to become a lawyer so he could practice law in California. They hired him in attorney buffet but it is against the law because he is illegal immigrant. He really wants to become a lawyer but he is far from becoming one soon enough. Maybe if he was a little bit younger than he would qualify for the dream act that has help students with good standing in high school go to the university. That is one part of the American dream to be able to study and do the profession you want to do without people telling you that you could just not do that because you are an illegal immigrant. But there is many people like Sergio Garcia that wish to practice the law or any other profession but they have the qualifications of been a proper citizen or having a permanent resident status.

            Throughout time the immigrants see that this American dream has a long journey ahead of them and it is not going to be easy to achieve it. But each person might have different circumstances or decisions that they had to take leading them to come to the United States, but almost every person that comes here has one thing on mind and that is to prosper in this land. Latin American immigrants come here more often because it is the nearest place where they know they could prosper because in their towns or countries sometimes they live in poverty and they don’t have the same resources.

What Are the Chances: The American Dream

What Are the Chances: The American Dream

By. Robert J Wegner

The United States of America is a country that is founded on the concept of immigration. Before Columbus’s discovery of North America on October 12, 1492, this was a land that was inhabited by an indigenous people; American Indians. From that time on the United States has become the “Melting Pot” of the world; a mixture of different foods, clothing, ethnicities and cultures.

In our class discussion on Marisa Alicea’s chapter, we reviewed some of the stereotypes of Spanish-Americans. I was shocked to see that “Lazy was on of the first labels brought up. For seven consecutive summers I have had the opportunity to work with many Latin Americans and I can honestly say that after that they were among the hardest working people that I have ever had the chance of meeting. I have had countless talks with my co-worker Miguel, who was born and raised in Argentina, he frequently compares the two lands with stories that aways start off with "In my Country". He originally left his homeland and moved to the United States with his infant son in the 90’s. He left the rest of his family behind in hopes of obtaining the American Dream. With little education (and only speaking broken English), he was able to find a job that pays around $13/H. The company we work for offers plenty of overtime, which Miguel is more than happy to work. He averages approximately 40hours/week at $13/H and seven hours a week overtime; which pays around $19.50/H (time and a half). Knowing how many hours a week and how much Miguel is getting paid, I can assume he has a gross pay of $31,500/Y.

As I read Marisa Alicea’s chapter on Latino immigration I found it to be surprisingly one-sided. I do agree that Latin American’s are scrutinized, over-worked, under appreciated, and poorly compensated for the hard work they do in the U.S. After completing our assigned reading, I found myself wondering; why do migrants stay in this country, let alone risk their lives, to step foot on American soil?

According to the World Bank, the United States has an average of income of $49,956. In Argentina, the average pay per capita is approximately $11,452 per year. That is even more than the Mexico’s average income in 2012 of $9,747. Most of the people that I work with constantly set aside money to send back to their country of origin. This got me thinking, exactly how much money is being made here in the United States and sent to family’s in Latin American countries? The World Bank also claims that in 2008 $45.9 BILLION in remittances were sent to Latin American countries from the U.S. If immigrants were truly unhappy or thought that they could be more more “successful” in their home country, most of that money would go to the airlines or to Coyotes to get them back to their homelands. 

All in all I do agree with many of the arguments that M. Alicea’s made. I agree that the distribution of land at the conclusion of the Mexican American War was unfair. I agree that Spanish Americans do not have equal opportunities for jobs, education and compensation as “whites". I also agree that it is difficult to distinguish weather Cuban’s migrated to the United States for “political” or “economical” reasons. I believe that people that come here to work, have a chance of earning more than they would in their home country. That they work hard and make huge sacrifices all in order earn one of most sought after possessions in the world; the American dollar.

I also believe that M. Alicea’s chapter put a lot of blame on the American/Mexican/Cuban/Puerto Rican governments and failed to mention problems on the opposing side; such as: the 113 billion tax dollars per year that the estimated 13 million illegal aliens (and their U.S. born their children) cost to our governments (Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration Statistics). Deportation over conviction of criminals and the cost that illegal immigration has put on our health care system under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA).

Although it is a corrupt and broken system, as long as the United States has a need for cheep labor in our factories, assembly lines, agriculture industry etc. people will continue to fill these jobs, earning unfair wages and working in poor conditions. All of this makes the abolishment of occupational stratification seem like more of a dream than a reality. I am sure that many Polish immigrants, Irish immigrants and Italian immigrants felt this way after arriving in the “Land of opportunity” when they were overworked and underpaid for many of the same jobs that Latino Americans are working today.

What Are the Chances: that last year Miguel’s 19 year old son won a million dollars on a scratch off lottery ticket, bought his father a home in Arlington Heights and moved back to Argentina to take care of his mother? They are slim to none; about the same as the abolishment of occupational stratification  happen here in the United States. Who knows apparently the lottery doesn’t discriminate, after all anything is “possible” with The American Dream.

Works Cited

Alicea, Marisa. "Sociology." Handbook of Hispanic Cultures in the United States. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 35-56. Print.

"GDP per Capita (current US$)." Data. World Bank, n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013. <http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD>.

"Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act." Ascension Health. Ascension Health, n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013. <http://www.ascensionhealth.org/index.php?option=com_content>.

"USA QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau." USA QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.

"Illegal Immigration Statistics." Illegal Immigration Statistics., 2013. Web. 24 Oct. 2013. <http://www.illegalimmigrationstatistics.org/>.

Immigration a necessary evil?

It is ironic that immigration is still a topic of debate in the United States, especially since “U.S. economic pressures play a major role in Latin American migration (Rodriguez 1).” The U.S. was a key reason as to why immigration started and why it is still around. The creation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was a way that the U.S. indirectly encouraged immigration. NAFTA caused many small business owners to lose their businesses. In   the article, How US Policies Fueled Mexico's Great Migration, Robert Ortega, a small-scale butcher, loses his source of income in Mexico because of NAFTA and its policy that “opened up Mexican markets to massive pork imports from U.S. companies like Smithfield Foods (Bacon 1).” NAFTA destroyed the job market for farmers but highly reduced the price of food products, such as corn, meat, etc. The price reduction was so great that many small-scale butchers had lost their source of income, just like Ortega. The damaged caused by NAFTA did not only effect butchers but many farmers as well as small-scale workers in desperate need of work. Therefore, many of them migrated to the United States looking for work that they lost. Many immigrants were able to find work in the U.S. but a very low pay.

NAFTA overall was a selfish move for the U.S. to succeed economically. Through the creation of NAFTA the U.S. was able to get the cheap labor they needed to boost their economy by opening up trade. Which made prices decline greatly, causing small businesses to shut down. Companies, like Smithfield, were able to take advantage of NAFTA by importing different kinds of products and buying agricultural land. In my opinion, the U.S. did not care about Mexico’s economy. While the U.S. economy was flourishing, Mexico’s was kept declining. The declining of Mexico’s economy drove out many Mexicans from their homes. In addition, poverty spread like a wild fire in Mexico. Upon arriving and working in the U.S., work conditions in the factories were horrific and companies had a lot of power over the people; they could be easily replaced if need to. 

It was a double edge sword when Smithfield was shut down in the United States. The benefit was that it stopped massive population but the downside was the the company ended up moving to Mexico. Again Mexico was being exploited, just like how they were exploited by the U.S. for cheap labor. Instead, they get the pollution the U.S. once had and it made it very difficult for people in Mexico. In , How US Policies Fueled Mexico's Great Migration, a local farmer, Fausto Limon described the effects of the population. He talked about how he would have to drive his family, in the middle of the night, far enough not to smell the population because it caused his family sickness. This is very upsetting because the U.S. only looks out for its own interest. They took advantage of NAFTA in many ways and Mexico pays for it. The U.S. should have a way to “pay back” for what they have done or help fellow countries they indirectly put down. 

Sources:

http://www.thenation.com/article/165438/how-us-policies-fueled-mexicos-great-migration#

http://www.ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/north-american-free-trade-agreement-nafta

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3045301084.html

http://www.philebrity.com/2010/05/26/immigration-reform-supporters-rallying-at-independence-hall/

Dream Big

For years immigration reform has been on the backburner in the United States, until just recently. Thanks to The Dreamers, all eyes have been on the House of Representatives as we await their decision to pass a new immigration reform. The Dreamers are a group of undocumented students who have been brought to the United States typically at a young age who are trying to further their education but can't due to their legal status. This group of brave young men and women were able to pressure the government enough to make changes on their legal status. Although not all of the dreamers have been able to change their legal status completely, they were still able to apply for citizenship as well as obtain their driver’s license. But this is just the beginning.

                 Hispanics have been arriving illegally to the United States for a very long time now due to several reasons. For centuries, the United States has influenced Hispanic migration due to economic reasons and employment. After occupying most of Latin America's resources and influencing multiple economic downfalls, it was evident that Latinos had to migrate elsewhere. The US was very strategic about their influence. Cheap labor and unlimited workers were something the United States would continue to benefit from for years. Mexico, for example, had US involvement for a very long time and is responsible for the “push and pull” factors that constantly bring Mexicans up north. There’s no need to question why so many Latinos have migrated north, the United States brought them here.

                But what happens when those Latinos have been here for 10, 15, 20 years and they've grown to consider the United States their home? Just like the Dreamers, many immigrants want to better themselves, their jobs, and their opportunities for themselves and their families. When the Dream Act was signed, it was a big deal for immigrants all over the country. Many families stopped being scared of deportation; they felt their voices could be heard.   

                Thousands of people, all from different race and backgrounds have been marching and fighting for a new immigration reform. “It’s good for our economy, it’s good for our security, it’s good for our people and we should do it this year,” President Obama said about the new immigration reform. President Obama once again asked the House of Representatives for a vote this year. The United States is heading in the right direction with a new immigration reform, now all we have to do is wait. Thanks to the Dreamers, the Latino voice is no longer silent. The Dream act was just a beginning.

 Immigration back in spotlight

Obama push for vote from House of Representatives

Undocumented Youth Block Deportation Bus -photo

Everyone has the Right to Dream

Christina Giles

Z1674507

ILAS 100

ICE is the immigration and customs enforcement and their mission is to promote homeland security and public safety through the criminal and civil enforcement of federal laws governing border control, customs, trade and immigration. Everyday people are getting deported back to their country of original birth land.  Not only does this affect the adults because they lose their jobs and the income that they were making here in the United States, but it also affects their kids.

Children and young adults are going to school to better their education. Deporting students that are enrolled in school just because they don’t have a paper that says US citizen or resident is not a legitimate reason to take the opportunity away from these students. Students are in school to better their lives, get a job that pays them a decent amount of money, and at the end of the day it is also making them intelligent.

 Thanks to the federal policy of DACA, which stands for deferred action for child arrivals, allows young unauthorized immigrants who are low enforcement priorities to remain in the country temporarily. Students should not be taken away their dreams because he or she is illegal.

Deferred action means that it can be granted to individuals who are in removal proceedings. Those who are in the deferred action status can apply for an employment authorization. Although it may sound easy to get into this DACA process it has many requirements. Some of the requirements include: being under 31 years of age as of June 15, 2012, came to the U.S. while under the age of 16, have continuously resided in the U.S. from June 15, 2007 to the present that are currently in school, have graduated from high school, have obtained a GED, or have been honorably discharged from the Coast Guard or armed forces, and have not been convicted of a felony offense, a significant misdemeanor, or more than three misdemeanors and do not pose a threat to national security or public safety.

            I believe that Latino’s are migrating to the United States to better their lives. No Latino has an intention to come to the US to be lazy, go to jail, or not do anything to improve their lives. If that was the case Latinos would not migrate to the Unites States. The big misconception of allow immigrants to work is that they are taking their jobs. I believe that Latino’s are the most hard-working people in the United States because they know how valuable having their job can be. Their intentions are to help their families, to better their lives and their children’s lives. In order to help better their children’s lives, the parents put their children in school.

            The United States is only a few of many countries that require child education. I personally cannot relate to this topic, but I believe that students that want to enhance their education should be able to go to school. What many people do not see is that these innocent children did not have a choice to decide to come to United States their parents or family members brought them here. These children and young adults also have dreams of achieving success. Everyone should have the right to obtain a dream they can accomplish.

 http://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/308/

http://immigrationequality.org/issues/immigration-basics/daca/